The SOPA moment, says Ohanian, set the site on a new, more explicitly political course. It led to the drafting of a Declaration of Internet Freedom ("We believe that a free and open Internet can bring about a better world") and the creation of the Internet Defense League ("Make sure the internet never loses. Ever"), a coalition led by Reddit, Mozilla, WordPress and the Cheezburger Network (Failblog, The Daily Wh.at, Know Your Meme), with the goal of warning citizens of the next SOPA or PIPA.

"I've always tried to make 'making the world suck less' a goal of mine," Ohanian tells me in Lincoln.